


Romancing the Stone

by LazlosLulls



Series: The Premiere Courtship of New Altea [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Courting Rituals, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Sex, Non-Sexual Intimacy, You don't need to give your beloved a diamond, just a really cool rock you think they'd enjoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 01:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17756906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazlosLulls/pseuds/LazlosLulls
Summary: The Queen and King Consort of Altea’s current hosts are a little, “enthusiastic” about making their relationship “fulfilled”. Allura and Shiro are “exceedingly grateful” for their “assistance”.Spoiler alert: they're not.Allura decides to pull out the Big Book of Altean Courting to get the universe off their backs. Shiro reveals something he’s been holding onto since before they married. Klance makes a minor role as Beta Couple. In the end, it’s not the outside forces bringing them closer together, but themselves.





	Romancing the Stone

**Romancing the Stone**

Allura and Shiro politely yet quickly dashed into their room for the night. The Uwuliph have been nothing but kind, if overbearing, hosts. Their treaty into the Alliance was practically secure the first hour of their landing; yet they insisted on the Queen and King Consort stay the week. The other dignitaries followed suit, enjoying the amenities for a spell before retiring to their rooms.

Now alone, they could talk about it. Shiro did his customary sweep of the suite. It was exquisitely kept. It was fairly large, with a kitchenette, a bathroom with a tub for two, and a small office setup. The bed was exceedingly large with a red comforter, resting on top was a tray of wine and two glasses. Assorted fruits, nuts and bottles of water were on the office desk. When Allura looked in the fridge, she saw some extra food and drinks.

Shiro found two recording devices and he quickly disabled them with white noise programming. “This is rather...different than where we’ve stayed before, right?” he asked. There wasn’t anywhere else to sit but the bed. They moved the wine and sat on the edge, close together.

“The Uwuliph do pride themselves on being good hosts.” Allura said. “But this still worries me. They were all so eager for us to come here. The Olkari too. I was prepared for a fight, but it was very simple.”

“Maybe it was just a way to promote the planet. They did insist on showing us the highlights.”

“Their winding gardens where they grow the fruit for their wines, their restaurant services, the hot springs. It sounds like a peaceful vacation; if we could understand _why_. Why was it important to show this to us?”

“Maybe it’s a bargaining chip? They don’t provide much on the galactic scale, aside from their wine and food. Trying to show us the value in them?” Shiro said, but it felt weak to his ears.

“That would make sense. There had to be a reason why the Galra didn’t strip mine this planet like so many others.” Allura pressed her bracelets, projecting a screen to the empty wall. “Let’s talk with Keith, see what he’s found out.”

Keith appeared, in casual clothing. He quickly hurried his tablet over to his desk. “Hey, Allura. Shiro. I’ve got the intel.” He frowned before jumping into it. “The reason why they insisted both of you come, it’s mostly because of a rumor...about your and Shiro’s marriage. Several of the Alliance planets don’t think that it will last.”

“What?” they said together.

“They think you’re not actually in love.” Keith said. His face grew red, “They said that Shiro is too used to following orders, and Allura is umm. Frigid.”

“What does my temperature have to do with this?” Allura asked.

Shiro winced. “Allura, it means that, to an outsider, we look like we aren’t...affectionate.”

Lance showed up in the screen, half dressed, casting his arm around his boyfriend. He’d been listening in the background. “You don’t look like you have sex.” Lance pointed out. That earned a glare from the married couple.

“Everyone living in the Castle knows we’re intimate. You’ve personally walked in on us.” Allura said.

“Multiple times.” Shiro added.

He raised his hands in defense. “I mean in public. You’re too stiff, it makes it look like you’re just married for the duty, not because you like each other.”

“We’re _professionals_.” she scoffed. “We’re focused on bringing peace, not acting like every new planet is a couple’s retreat!”

That phrase twigged something in Shiro’s thoughts. “Wait...this planet _is_ a couple’s retreat.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This was a set up.”

Keith decided to come back in. “This rumor was mainly supported by a few races. The Olkari, the Krellians, the Arusians and a handful of others.”

“Give me a list of names.” Allura pulled her calendar out from her bracelets. “If they want to see us happy, fine. At our next meetings, we are going to be very much in love. _Sickeningly_ so.” She started to put little hearts next to the appointments.

Shiro shrugged. “I suppose we can work on upping our PDA. We could probably spin it that we didn’t want to step on each other’s toes as far as courting goes.”

Lance frowned. “Small things might not cut it. They threw you into the most romantic planet of the quadrant – in the honeymoon suite!” Lance flung his arms around, “This is clearly someone’s reckless last-ditch plan.”

Allura nearly growled in frustration. “Well, it’s not their decision when we show affection or not! We are people, just as they are!”

Keith’s mouth pursed into a line. “You’re not just a person, Allura. You represent more than that. Peace, hope, a whole race that was nearly lost.”

She wanted to smack him from across the galaxy. Of course she knew! That’s what she always _was_. But the rage had passed in a tic, after remembering that Keith had always been dedicated to the larger picture, the cause before the person.

Keith continued. “They just want to see you ‘fulfilled’, and having sex is a part of that.”

“Wonderful.” Allura drawled. “And do I let the masses dictate my every move, from dawn to dusk like their dutiful plaything?”

He flinched, “I didn’t mean-”

Allura sighed. “I understand you’re trying to help, Keith. Thank you for the information. Shiro and I will think it over.”

“Yes. Good night Allura. Good night Shiro.” Keith said.

His boyfriend shrugged. “Sleep tight, lovebirds. My advice: Get caught half naked in a coat closet. That destroyed rumors of me being a hetero real quick.” he smiled.

“ _Lance_!”

“Bye bi!” the screen clicked off.

Allura turned to her husband. “Well? Would you like to ravish me this fine evening?” she said, venom on her tongue.

“The outright manipulation killed the mood, to be honest.” he said. They started to pick off their diplomatic armor, going through the usual motions of settling in for the night.

Allura groaned. “I can’t believe Ryner would do this to us! She’s known us since the start! Now we’re on a planet we don’t need to be for the next week! We could be doing good work! Not making gooey eyes at each other!”

“Well, maybe we could treat this as a vacation.” he hesitated at her face. “Three days at least? Then we can have the Blade whip up an emergency.”

Her shoulders dropped, realizing that their ‘overworking’ was probably considered a red flag in their public relationship. Allura sighed, wrapping her arms around Shiro.  “You always excelled at making a bad situation bearable.”

“I do my best.” They left their armor in the closet, getting changed into their nightclothes. They curled up in the bed together, as they do each night, with a tablet and the next week’s schedule.

Keith was true to his word, sending out a list of the conspirators of the ‘romantic getaway’.  It was bigger than expected. She should be flattered that so many people want her happy, yet it just left a sour taste in her mouth.

“That’s a lot of people. I don’t think I can handle being in puppy love for that long.” Shiro admitted.

“That would be annoying, having to Publicly Display Affection and risk missing out on something important.” Allura flicked through her notes. “Our first anniversary is coming up, yes?”

“In a few weeks. Are you thinking about doing something special?"

Allura breathed in, steadying herself. “The formal announcement of myself, Queen of Altea, courting you, the Black Paladin of Voltron.”

Shiro blinked, head tilting slightly. “But we’re already married? Shouldn’t courting have happened a while ago?”

“It did...but not in the way the public saw. Everyone knows that we met in a war.” Allura reasoned. “We had to keep it secret, assuming that our enemies would use it against us. We’re used to keeping our actions and emotions in check. Now that things have slowed down, we can focus and build our relationship.”

Shiro frowned. “Shouldn’t _I_ be courting you?”

She smiled, giddy. “Oh no! As the one of higher status, I must be the one properly courting you.” Allura pressed her finger to his chest. “Where did I leave – yes, here it is!” she pulled up a list from the tablet. “Courting Practices for the Modern Altean Noble.” Shiro started to scan the list. Most of them were of names of previous Altean nobles that popularized their wooing practices. Some beyond that were self-explanatory.  Allura scrolled until she reached a certain entry. "My mother was fond of this one."

Shiro peered at the description. "For one continuous day and night cycle never let your Courted touch the ground." He read aloud. The example video had two figures. One heaved the other off the bed, bridal style. If even a foot tapped the ground a red ‘X’ appeared onscreen. "So are you going to carry me everywhere?"

"Yes. We'd have to pick a day we're together or else you'd be stranded on a table or something."

"Nice. That one looks doable too." They would tie their hands together and eat from one bowl of soup with one spoon. "I think I've got more practice than you, though."

"Oh, right!” She laughed. “The Paladin training!"

Shiro pointed to an unfamiliar listing. "And this one?”

"It requires me to recognize you while you shape-shift.”

"I could wear a costume and makeup? Or we could do an entire masquerade ball?”

Allura smiled. "We'll keep it in mind."

A certain one jumped out at him. “The Stone’s Throw?”

“I’ve already done that one.” Allura scrolled past it, regret in her tone. “Besides, it’s mostly superstition anyway.”

“What? When?”

“Ages ago, it doesn’t matter now.” At Shiro’s look, she sighed and pulled up the video. “The initiating party goes and finds a stone that they believe their beloved would like. Then they throw it at their chosen, and what happens will predict the future of the relationship. If it breaks or not, how it breaks, if the Courted even likes the talisman in question-” Allura stopped herself as she saw the listed outcomes and their meanings. “It’s not important now because we’re already in the relationship.” She said, swallowing down her bitter memories.

Shiro blinked. “Hold on. You threw a rock at me.” he said flatly.

“It’s romantic! Based on the fable of someone spying the perfect stone and running through a rock storm to get it for their beloved!” She protested. Shiro started to shift out of bed. “Where are you going?”

“To get something.” He went to his suitcase, opening up a special pocket. “Is this what you were talking about?”

Even from the end of the bed, she would recognize it. Her Stone, smooth and dark with a new band of silver running through it. She was right, it did fit in his hand perfectly.

“What? How?” Last she saw of it, it was shattered into two jagged pieces. What made it worse is that Shiro didn’t even notice, too busy rubbing his the newly forming bruise under his hair. That was the worst prediction, foretelling an emotionally exhausting relationship that ended in misery for both of them.  She couldn't even bring herself to collect the pieces, just leaving them were they lay.

“Allura, you spent weeks looking for rocks everywhere we went. This one meant something to you. I thought you just, slipped and dropped it.” He shrugged. “I was having terrible migraines at the time, so I probably didn’t realize I got hit. You ran off almost immediately, and I noticed it on the ground. I tried to get it back to you, but you were avoiding me for some reason.” He smiled, at least now relieved to know the reason.

“How is it whole?” it barely looked like it was broken. The silver had flowed over the cracks, sealing it together.

Shiro continued, growing softer. “I knew that this was important, so I tried to fix it. There’s this pottery technique called Kintsugi, where broken pieces are repaired with gold…I didn’t really have gold, but Hunk and Pidge were able to help me put it back together. Couldn’t find all of the pieces, but I think it worked out.”

Heat rushed to her face, her eyes started to blur, big wet tears threatening to fall.

She couldn’t see Shiro’s face grow concerned. "Ah. Allura?" he came closer, kneeling on the bed, "Did I do it wrong?"

"No! No you're perfect!" She sniffed, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "Give it here, let me look closely at it.”

Shiro reflexively wrapped the cord around his wrist and held the mineral in his hand. “I used to carry it with me as a worry stone while in Black. Kept telling myself that I’d survive this and give it back to you later.”

The one side was dark, turning iridescent at certain angles, with a band of silver down the middle, as if painted on. He turned it over. The previously jagged outer edges were smoothed out, framing the insides. The source of the blue and purple sheen was thin, fine stripes of color, sparkling in the light. The damage went clear through to the other side, sealed by the silver, looking like a river that carved a canyon of crystal. The silver metal had a ring on the one side, with a cord threading through it.

She felt her heart stutter, warmth filling her. She clasped her hand around his. “It’s beautiful.” At once Allura grasped her arms around him, making him tumble down with her. Shiro laughed at the sudden change. They pressed their foreheads together, “You’re beautiful, Shiro.” Allura murmured, pressing a kiss to his nose.

The blush rose to his cheeks now. “You’re wonderful, Allura,” he snuggled in closer, kissing her cheek markings.

“My brilliant Paladin.”

“My stunning Princess.”

They whispered sweet words together, underneath the covers before drifting off in a perfect sleep.

**The End**


End file.
